Irish Set Dance Group
From Monaro Folk Society
Contents |
Irish Set Dancing at the MFS
We run Irish Set Dancing classes in four ten-week terms each year. The dates for 2010 are:
- Term 1 - Wednesday 27 January - Wednesday 31 March (10 weeks)
- Term 2 - Wednesday 28 April - Wednesday 30 June (10 weeks)
- Term 3 - Wednesday 21 July - Wednesday 22 September (10 weeks)
- Term 4 - Wednesday 13 October - Wednesday 8 December (9 weeks)
Classes run from 8:00PM to 10:00PM on Wednesdays during those terms. The last class of each term is a 'mini-ceili', where the night is given to dancing rather than instruction.
Irish Set Dancing Ceilis
We hold Saturday night ceilis on the following dates:
There are also 'mini-ceilis' run on the last week of each term, which give us the chance to dance and enjoy all the dances learnt in that term. It is highly recommended you only come to the mini-ceili if you have attended the term as there will be only minimal recaps and walk-throughs.
What to bring
The recommended footwear is shoes with leather or hard rubber soles. Irish Set Dancing uses a 'gliding' step where the feet brush the ground and involves many 'swings' where you pivot on the front of your foot; wearing running shoes will put a lot of load on your knees and make these actions more difficult. Feel free to come along to the first session in whatever you have as we can demonstrate the many styles of footwear that suit. Please don't bring tap shoes or shoes with metal soles as we have to keep the dance floor as even as possible.
Recommended dress is sensible clothing with room to move.
Even though Irish Set Dancing is done in couples, you don't need to have a partner in order to come along! We regularly swap people around so that you get a chance to dance with many experienced dancers. We've found that this is the best way for new dancers to learn set dancing.
References
For current information on the Irish Set Dance group see http://www.mabula.net/setdancing/
